When the #MeToo Movement Hits Campuses
The #MeToo movement began with accusations against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein but rapidly became a rallying call for women everywhere to tell their own stories of sexual harassment. #MeToo has…
Campus Feminism: The Real War on Women
At a time when the majority of American college students are female—currently 57 percent of all students—higher education’s conversation surrounding women’s rights is largely dominated by modern feminist ideology. Roughly…
Intellectual Diversity and Academic Professionalism
Editor’s Note: This is a condensed version of a speech Dr. Otteson gave at a January James G. Martin Center luncheon. Our topic today is the importance of intellectual diversity…
Sorry, Students, but I Have Never Espoused Racism or White Supremacy
As I watched the antics of the hooded “Antifa” mobs at Berkeley and other large universities last year, I thought that I’d missed something in my many years as a…
The ‘Right’ to Disrupt Free Speech on Campus Doesn’t Exist
When students (and others) disrupt events where speakers are trying to make arguments they dislike, they say that their conduct is justified. Most commonly, the disrupters maintain that they are…
When a Black Student Dares to Speak Up for Free Speech
Zachary Wood is a remarkable young man. He’s black, attends a predominantly liberal elite college (Williams) and believes that robust and civil arguments are vital to America’s continuing success. He…
We’re One People, Not ‘Two North Carolinas’
University of North Carolina system president Margaret Spellings recently outlined her plans for higher education to drive economic prosperity in the News & Observer. Her “Two North Carolinas” class rhetoric…
UNC’s New Gen Ed Proposal Reflects Major Philosophical Shift from Knowledge to Process
It is imperative that universities take the time to deeply reflect on their purpose (or rather, purposes). There is no better time for UNC-Chapel Hill to do so than now,…
When Cronyism Met Political Correctness at the University of Texas
As an alumnus of the University of Texas Law School and the father of a recent UT graduate, I pay close attention to what is going on at my alma…
Standing Athwart Social Justice Protests
Today’s protest-ridden climate on college campuses might lead one to suspect that they are hotbeds of political disruption controlled by social justice warriors. All over the country, speakers are shouted…